Believe it or not, the Lutheran Confessions refer to the Apocrypha as “Scripture.” Yet, if you were to read through the Lutheran Confessions, you would find that they never even bother to list the books of the Bible. Why is that? Simply put, we did not have any argument with the Roman Catholic Church on what books made up the Bible. So, our Confessions are silent on that matter.
However, we find that when we Lutherans first got around to listing the books of the Bible (in Martin Chemintz’ Ministry, Word, and Sacraments: An Enchiridion), the books of the Apocrypha are all listed as Scripture! So, how did we end up where we are today, where those books are all but forgotten, and we’ve become more Protestant than Lutheran in our view of them? These lessons answer that question and give us much more, including information about the Apocrypha from the beginning of the New Testament Church.
The links to the lessons are below. Each link will open a Microsoft Word document for each particular lesson.
2 The Apocrypha and the Apostolic Fathers
3 Early Church Councils and Luther
4 Change within the Lutheran and Roman Churches
5 How to Use the Apocrypha and the Its Contents
6 Supplemental Lectionary Readings from the OT Apocrypha
